Fill in the Blanks Fun

Kindergarteners thrive on being silly. They love creating ridiculous words and sentences. You can use this love of a good joke to get them writing! This fill-in-the-blanks game is a little like Mad Libs, but for emerging writers. Get ready for some silly sentences!

What You Need:

What You Do:

Fold each piece of construction paper into 8 sections (fold the paper in half, then fold in half again, and then fold the remainder in half). Unfold, and ask your child to draw a picture on each of the sections, to illustrate the following word lists: Red (nouns): Car House Cat Girl Boy Yellow (verbs): Walk Swim Eat Throw Read

Once she’s drawn illustrations for all of the words, ask your child to cut along the folds to create picture cards. (NOTE: She will have five picture cards for each sheet, plus 3 blanks.) Put all the red cards in one bowl, and all the yellow cards in the other.

It’s time for some fill-in-the-blank silliness! Using the template below as a “sentence frame”, your child will choose cards at random to fill in the gaps. Each time she sees the words “red card” underneath a blank, she should pick a card from the red bowl, and write the word in the blank. When she sees the words “yellow card”, she should pick a card from the yellow bowl, and write it in the blank. Repeat until all spaces are full. The result? Absolutely ridiculous sentences, that she’ll get a kick out of repeating.

This activity gets things started, with four super silly sentences. But you can extend the fun, by creating some more of your own. Add new picture cards, or add more fill-in-the-blanks, it’s up to you. Either way, this game is sure to get your kid giggling, and practicing her new writing skills, too!

"Frame It" Activity Sheet: 1. We will go to her __________ to ___________. (red card) (yellow card) 2. The ________likes to _________ mice! (red card) (yellow card) 3. The ________ will __________me the ball. (red card) (yellow card) 4. A _______ went to the library to __________ a book. (red card) (yellow card)

Mary Anne Edwards has taught preschool, first, and fourth grades. She has also lead second grade reading groups.